Page 31 of The Doctor's Wolf: Part Two
I started crying like a goddamn baby just because those two wolves think of me as their pack, just because they simply accept me as their own.Gordon stared at the photos of the empty chest cavities from which the hearts were absent.I mean…it’s not like I wasthatalone before I met Adler.And when I met him, I almost messed things up, then got together with him and almost messed things up a second time.Then he swallowed hard.Maybe I was a little bit alone?Maybe I’m really fucking glad I have his mate bite?
He took a deep breath, tore his eyes away from the screen to look around Adler’s living room.He ended up staring at the statue of a wolf Willa had carved for her second.I’m mostly sure I chose being alone,Gordon thought.
He picked out sounds from the hallway.Adler was moving the little wolf toward the guest room.Gordon considered the perfectly embarrassing scene in the car earlier, then wondered how it was Mil had seemed relatively composed all day and then had only cried with him.Even then, she’d calmed down well before Gordon’s own outbreak had subsided.
On a likely silly whim, he pulled out his phone—not the burner Heath had given him, his regular one with the cute Kawaii Demon Hunter case—and called Maxim.He got up and closed the door so Adler and Mil wouldn’t hear.
“It’s my darling corpse whisperer,” Maxim answered on the third ring.“Gordon, did you miss me?My advice and esprit, my flair?”
“Erm, I don’t mean to interrupt your evening.If you’re busy…?”
Gordon heard Maxim’s soft laughter.
“Gordon, you’re not interrupting.You calling so late means my wisdom is needed.Or my blades?Most nights, it is my blades that are called for.”
“Okay, uh, no.I mean, I just…I had a question about werewolves,” Gordon blurted out.He felt his cheeks heat and was lucky his two werewolves were busy elsewhere.
“Werewolves?My understanding is you had figured out all the relevant parts by now.During the full moon shift, the locales pretty much stay the same, and if you can handle the fur, a good licking—”
“Fuck, Maxim,” Gordon said as he started pacing.“I mean how come Mil seemed to be pretty, I don’t know, composed today even though her grandmother is still being monitored in the stroke unit?How come she started crying when I cried in the car because I turned into a teary-eyed, sentimental fool when Adler said something about me having a pack?”
“Aaaaaw,” the hunter crooned.“Gordon!Your harrowed heart found succor in the strong embrace of your werewolf mate!It’s a tale for the ages.Tell me all about it.”
Gordon ran a hand through his hair.“I—it’s not that cheesy.It’s probably because of the bite, right?Is the mate bite making me weird?”
Maxim clicked his tongue.“Gordon, dear.You were weird long before that.You talk to corpses.”
“Fair enough.”
“And I doubt your mate bite makes you emotional.It mostly makes you Adler’s.”
“Right.”
“Which is delicious!Auspicious!If you two ever want a proper handfasting, I will speak for you, Gordon.”
Gordon nearly stumbled over.“What!No.I mean…that’s not why I called.”
“It’s not?What was it then?”Maxim chuckled.
“They said I had pack, and that took me by surprise.”
“Yes, I will have to talk to Adler about that.Surely he knows I am part of your pack as well.At any rate, you were concerned about the little wolf?”
Kind of.“Yeah.”
“Well.I’m sure it helped she spent the day with the bar Lar and not at the hospital where all the strange and scary smells are.Young werewolves especially have an easier time with their emotions when they are around pack to guide and support them.Crying with you is expressing sympathy.”
“Oh.”
“Because you are pack.”
“I mean…”
“Interestingly, while I have been in this city for such a long time, I’ve never had that direct a connection with a pack.Gordon, do you realize?Through you, I could become the pack grandfather.Ah!I can see it, the pack’s grandfather who is beloved by all!Gordon.You mustn’t tell Heath right away.It might be difficult for him to share my attention with anyone.”
Hot granddad hunter?With a sudden pang, Gordon realized that Kawaii Demon Hunter wasn’t all that different as far as being immortal went, and that he had been a fan for a long time.No, he can’t be a grandfather.Not in his hunter outfit, not happening.
“I don’t think it works that way.”
